Two Sides of the Same Coin
by Shadow's Painting
Summary: Rhino Harugo was told to believe that she's an only child. So when her father dies and her mother becomes bedridden, what does she do? Simple. She stops believing.
1. Chapter 1

_I've decided I'm going to finally recreate this. I've gotten much better, and this has turned into more than a vent. _

_Prologue_

Silver held the newborn in her arms gently, singing a soft lullaby.

Radius chuckled quietly. "Silver, you haven't named her yet. Do that before you start singing." He whispered, trying his hardest not to disturb the child.

They knew she couldn't see them; she was blind. But the couple were determined to take care of her until she could manage on her own. It was a promise they made as soon as they discovered her blindness. And they were fixated on keeping that promise.

Silver stopped singing and spoke. "I don't know what to name her." She said bluntly, smiling. Radius grinned and said. "We want her to be resistant to temptation-"

Silver blushed. "What's going to be tempting her?" Radius laughed and continued.

"So I thought her name should be Reyn." He finished, closing his eyes and grinning. Silver nodded.

"I like it. Reyn Harugo." she agreed, nodding.

-

Four years passed and Reyn grew up like a normal child, learning alchemy as quickly as she could. She could summon small breezes at this point, but that didn't matter; Alchemy was her vision - she could get around perfectly fine by observing air currents.

Silver and Radius had another child at that point. A happy, rambunctious child - and therefore they named her Rhino.

The newborn child was perfectly fine - Rhino didn't have a problem in the world.

-

Two years passed, and at this time Reyn was six years old.

She strode to her mother without difficulty. "Mom," she said. Her father was still asleep, snoring.

Silver looked down to Reyn and smiled. "What is it, sweetheart?" She yawned. Reyn frowned, a sad look in her unfocused eyes.

"I want to run away."

The words shocked Silver to speechlessness. "Why?" She finally managed to utter.

"Don't tell," Reyn whispered, "I want to go away and live on my own. I don't want Rhino to be upset when she grows up because I can't be the sister she needs. I'll write to you - but only you can read them."

Silver mused on this. "Reyn," She said, "You don't need to run away for Rhino's sake. You don't. It doesn't matter if you're blind, you can still be the best sister you can be for Rhino."

The look on Reyn's face distorted in confusion. "But-" Silver continued, "I know a place where you can stay, if you really feel like you need to do this. I know you're an intelligent kid, but you're still a kid nonetheless."

Reyn frowned, "You would lie to my daddy to make me happy?"

Silver chuckled. "Sweetheart, I'm not going to lie to him. I'll tell him. But I won't let him read your letters." She smiled, and stood up.

"Come with me."

-

And years passed without Rhino's knowledge of the situation. She grew up as if she were an only child, without a clue of what the whole picture looked like.

Radius yawned and jumped out of his bed, pulling on his prized possession - his boots - and walking towards the door. Unfortunately, he failed to open it, because he was tackled to the ground a second before.

"Dad! Dad, can I wear your boots today?!" Rhino laughed, rolling off him. Radius laughed and sat up. "Not today, girl." he chuckled. "I have to go to work." He stood up.

"Besides," He continued, "Lightning alchemy is dangerous. I can't let you use it outside of the house yet."

Rhino smiled. "I didn't want to use your alchemy. I just wanted to wear my dad's boots." Radius ruffled her hair and smiled. "You know you just wanted to see lightning, don't deny it." he chuckled.

Rhino blushed. "Okay, I just wanted to see lightning." She laughed, waving. "Okay, come back soon, Dad!"

Radius beamed at her. "Of course I will."

_It was their last day together; though it was a great one._

_Ah, here you are. So this story was originally called Jerking and Sparking. But I've gotten sooo much better at writing and good ideas never go to waste._


	2. Chapter 2

_Le Present_

_Dear Mother,_  
_I'm doing great here... Though I really miss home. Too bad I have to finish all ten years of this school. _  
_How are Dad and Rhino? I hope they're okay, and I hope Rhino has some of her herbal leaves when I get back, because I have a heck of a lot of scrapes. _

_I love all of you a lot,_

_Reyn_

Silver smiled at the letter and pocketed it, spinning around in her chair. She fingered her necklace lightheartedly, inspecting the transmutation circle there.

"Mom! Mom, come here! I want to show you something!" Silver smiled at the voice and turned around.

"What is it, Rhino?" The girl laughed and showed her a piece of paper decorated with a carefully drawn transmutation circle. "Alchemy!" Rhino said, and put the paper down on the floor. Soon little sparks of lightning danced across the paper, crumpling it a little bit. Once the girl was done, she laughed and said, "Ain't it cool?"

"Ain't isn't a word, Rhino... but yes, it's wonderful!" Silver laughed, picking up the child and swinging her around playfully. "It's an airplane!"

"An airplane! It's an airplane!" The kid repeated, laughing hysterically. Silver grinned and put her down.

"Did your father teach you that?" She asked, addressing the previous alchemy charade.

"Yeah! Daddy's a great alchemist! He's the one who powers all the houses!" She laughed. "Even this one!" Silver grinned, and at that very moment the door swung wide open.

"Oh! Don't you know?!" His voice rang across the hall in song as he came in. Silver laughed, and he continued, "That's the sound of men working on the chain gang!"

Silver joined him and sang cheerfully - "Oh! Don't you know?! That's the sound of men working on the chain gang!" Rhino laughed, and her father picked her up swiftly, ruffling her hair. "All day long, they work so hard. Until when?" He sang, waiting for her answer.

"Till the sun goes down!" The child laughed. She smiled.

Radius beamed. "Whoa, I work, work so hard!" He sang, turning to Silver. "See my woman, who I love so dear? That's what I work for!"

Silver blushed and sang, "That's why he works so hard!"

-

"So why'd the kid fall off his bike?" Reyn asked the group. It was lunchtime, and everyone was following the tradition lately; tell a really lame joke.

"I dunno, why?" A blonde boy asked. This was Nevy Vladin, and Reyn's first friend.

Reyn stifled a laugh. "Because his mum threw a refrigerator at him."

The group burst into laughter, and Nevy spoke, his cheeks red. "Okay, okay. How would an octopus go to war?" He chuckled, and one of the kids raised his hand.

"I know! Well armed." She sputtered, and the group began their cycle of laughter once more. Nevy frowned a bit though, and he placed a wheatle stick in his mouth, composing himself like a philosopher. "Alright, question." He spoke in a deeper voice, as if he was older than he is. "Why are we here? I mean, come on. We're like, eight..."

Reyn laughed a bit. "Because we graduate at sixteen."

"Because our parents are stupid." Another child chuckled. Nevy looked confused. "But seriously. It's an academy, right? For the disabled?" He questioned. Reyn laughed, and Nevy turned to her.

"I'm not disabled," She bragged. "It's just that I only see in one color."

Another girl laughed out loud. "I'm not disabled either," She said, holding up her permanent crutches, "The world just wants to help me walk. I couldn't help but let it."

Nevy laughed. "Yeah, me neither," He joined in. "I just have metal feet."

Reyn chuckled a bit. "Automail isn't a disability. It just means you have metal feet."

"Exactly!" Nevy called. At that point the bell rung. It sounded more like a church bell than a school bell. But it was a bell nonetheless. The group stood and Nevy chuckled, "Wait, one last joke - What do you do with a sick boat?"

They answered as a whole. "You take it to the dock!" They roared.

-

"Wow," Reyn groaned. "This is such a boring class... I can't wait until I'm thirteen." She was sitting in the middle of an alchemy class, and it was nowhere near over. Her fingers brushed over the patterns lightly.

"Geez," Nevy called, leaning over Reyn's shoulder. "I wish I was as smart as you. You already know alchemy and you can read Braille."

Reyn sighed, closing the textbook. "Of course I can read Braille," She sighed. "I'm blind."

"Well," Nevy whined. "You never seem like you're blind. You look at people straight in the eye." He sighed. "What happens when you're thirteen, anyway?"

Reyn grinned at him. "That's when you can start taking self defense classes."

Nevy laughed a bit. "Okay, I'm bored. Tell me a joke." Reyn sighed, and turned to him. "Okay, okay. What did the fish say when he ran into a wall?"

Nevy thought on this, and at moment he was called upon by the kids' instructor.

"Damn!" Nevy shouted, turning around to face the board, and he blushed red. "Uh... That's what the fish said when he ran into a wall!" He covered quickly, and proceeded to answer the question.

Reyn leaned over to him once all this was over and whispered, "Nice save."  
Nevy blushed. "Thanks... So what did the elder chimney say to the younger one?"

Reyn shrugged. "What?"

"You're too young to smoke!" Nevy laughed quietly. Reyn chuckled, and turned back to her book. "Get to work," She whispered.

Nevy made an inhuman whining sound. "That's so boring!"

Reyn looked over to him and frowned. "Then write down some more jokes, or something!" She whispered. "I'm trying to study."

"But you know everything!" Nevy whined.

"Do not."

"Yeah, you do!" Nevy grumbled. "You never do your work, yet you never miss a single question, or do a single transmutation wrong."

Reyn turned back to her book. "Well then. I guess I'm just too smart for school."

Nevy nodded and tried doing a simple transmutation on his desk. He failed... and whined. "Why can't I transmute solids?" He muttered. Reyn shrugged. "Maybe it's just not your thing. I can't transmute anything but air very well." Nevy sighed and sat back in his chair. "You wanna hear a secret?" He whispered.

Reyn nodded. "Yeah?"

Nevy leaned in closer, whispering in Reyn's ear.

"All I can transmute is blood."

-

_You're all lucky I have friends who push me into updating..._

_Just joking. _

_Now review._


	3. Chapter 3

**Uh... just so you know... **

**I have really weird ideas at 8:00PM when I'm on coffee...  
Just roll with it(The name of Reyn's academy is what I'm talking about)...**

Chapter 2: Disdain? What does that mean?

Reyn smiled and wiped the sweat from her forehead. It was getting tougher every time. She struggled to get a good grip on the bars, but once she had found the right place, nothing could go wrong. She had once considered taking her gloves off - but how could she find them again?

"How many sets again?" She called to her left, and Nevy instantly answered, "It's ten sets of five. Not too hard."

Reyn paled, almost falling off the bars. "That's 50 chin ups, Nevy. You're lying."

"Nope. I remember that they told us 25 chin ups, and ten sets of five is 25." Nevy said proudly. Reyn smiled and shook her head, arguing, "No, Nevy, ten sets of five is 50. Five sets of five is 25."

"Oh," Nevy said. "I guess that's right. Ten times five is 50, so ten sets of five is 50." He frowned. "Right?"

Reyn nodded. "Yeah..." Nevy frowned.

"I suck at math." Nevy whined, and then started to do the exercise. "Maybe that's why I can only transmute liquids well." He panted.

Reyn shrugged. "Yeah, maybe." She brought her chin up to meet the bar.

Nevy sighed. "What does 'disdain' mean?" Reyn turned to him. "What?"

"Disdain. D-I-S-D-A-I-N."

Reyn chuckled, lowering herself again. "A feeling that something or someone is unworthy of one's consideration or respect..." Nevy interrupted her.

"Then why is that the name of this academy? Dreyar's Institute Supporting Disabled Attendees in Nopal." Nevy frowned. "I don't get it - Wouldn't that be a bad first impression?"

Reyn sighed. "I don't know. This is an academy for disabled kids. An institute. We're the attendees, right? We live in Nopal, Aerugo." She listed. "Maybe it's the other way around? Maybe by 'disdain,' they mean that everyone holds disdain for disabled kids and they want to get rid of that?"

Nevy shrugged. "I guess."

Reyn laughed a bit and finally finished her exercise. "Nevy..." She panted. "Can you do me a favor?" She almost knew he would refuse - She asked him to do this all the time and she was sure he was getting sick of it.

Nevy dropped from his bar and sighed. "What?" He asked. He knew exactly what she would ask.

"Nevy," Reyn smiled, "Can you go to my dor-" She stopped herself here - "Residence... and get me a pair of my gloves that're dry?" Reyn asked sweetly. Nevy turned red. "Your gloves aren't even that sweaty!" He whined. "I'm not doing it!" Reyn pouted. "B-But..." She stammered. "Please?" She pleaded.

"Nope." Nevy frowned. "I'm not doin' it."

Reyn smiled slyly. "I'll give you my dessert at dinner-" In an instant, Nevy was out of the gymnasium and out the door.

Reyn smiled. "Same deal, every time." She laughed.

Nevy returned a while later with a dry pair of gloves - he was panting. "Here... you go." He huffed.

Reyn took them and smiled. "Thanks, Nevy."

-

"Here comes the train!" Silver laughed, moving the spoon in circular motions before Rhino's mouth, and the girl laughed. "I like the train!" She chuckled, and then pouted.

"But I'm too old for the train." She protested, closing her mouth. Silver pouted in mock disappointment. "Aww, that's too bad." She said slowly, as if saddened. "The train's loaded with yummy stuff."

Rhino laughed, pointing at the spoon. "I'll rob the train!" She threatened lightly. She grabbed it a bit forcefully and shoved it in her mouth. "See?" She said between bites, and Silver blushed and put a hand over Rhino's mouth.

"Honey, don't talk with your mouth full." She scolded.

Rhino groaned. "But that's a waste of time!" She protested, swallowing. Silver laughed lightly and sat back down at the table, eating her own food. Rhino chuckled like a child and began to eat by herself.

"Mom!" She said suddenly, and Silver jumped to attention. "What is it, honey?" She said sweetly. Rhino laughed. "Where did the first people ever come from?" She asked.

Silver almost dropped her fork. "Th-The first ever?" Rhino nodded. "Well, they couldn't be babies at first," She concluded. "They'd die off too soon."

Rhino nodded. "'Cause they wouldn't have parents." She said, with her mouth full. Silver twitched but didn't say anything to that. Instead she nodded and moved on. "Yeah, so they should be adults."

"But you told me grown ups were kids too."

Silver rolled her eyes - It was like asking whether the chicken or the egg came first. She smiled, finally saying, "Well, dear, sometimes there are questions even grown ups can't answer."

"Like when I asked you why the sky's blue?"

Silver sighed and smiled lightly. "Yes, I told you, You'll understand when you're much older."

"But why can't you tell me now?!" She whined.

"Because they're so many things you don't understand right now."

Rhino groaned and finished her food, quietly taking the plate and dropping it in the sink. "Grownups know everything," She muttered.

Silver smiled, and coughed once, but smiled again, and took her own plate to the sink.

Rhino yawned, heading off to her own room, and Silver sighed in relief. "Thought she'd never leave..." She whispered, walking over to a drawer and pulling open the last one to reveal a single slice of cake.

She carefully lifted both the wrapper and the cake out of the drawer and onto the table, sitting down solemnly. Silver smiled lightly and cut the cake in half.

"Happy Birthday, Reyn..." She muttered.****

-

So, um... yeah...

Review and all that stuff you readers do. 


End file.
